Whale Sharks 101:
they are not whales, they are not mammals, ....they are fish. they are in the same family as the Nurse Sharks, .... the ones that have no teeth and suck their food in. they do have 300 rows of tiny tiny teeth, but their throat is the size of your fist, (no chance they're going to eat you), even though their mouths open to 5ft wide. (which i'll admit might be a bit intimidating). they suck in their food with water, then expel the water out of their 5 gill slits on either side. very little is known about them, it was only recently when they were classified as a fish, when a harpooned one was dissected and found to have about 300 eggs and 15 babies ready to be born inside her. they are born alive, up to 2ft long, and the mother has no further responsibility for them. they live deep down in the ocean (2,300ft), migrate, traveling the seas, coming to the surface to feed on tiny fishes and plankton. they grow to 40ft long and 23ft around, and are thought to live to be 70-100yrs old, with sexual maturity around the age of 30. they are still hunted and killed in some Asian countries for their fins, which are a status symbol. they also use their liver for waterproofing. their meat is tasteless and is discarded. education is necessary to inform that they are worth more alive (for the tourist industry) than dead. but unfortunately, cultural traditions have no logic and die slowly. :(. they are generally very acceptable of humans 'invading their space', as long as there isn't splashing or loud noise. each and every Whale Shark has a unique 'finger print' in the design of spots on their left side just before their dorsal fin. the same technology that NASA uses to map constellations is being used to 'connect the dots' of the Whale Shark for identification purposes. there is a whole data base available through ECOCEAN that you can upload photos to ... maybe i'll be able to do this!
there is a great YouTube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO2k-l4yRz8&feature=related
i wish and hope that before i leave this could be me!
i originally became obsessed with the Whale Sharks while i was in Australia. they were just arriving in the area, i had one day scheduled, but none were sited. i've wanted to snorkel with one every since ... that's been 11 years ago! this could be my magic year!
Thursday, February 10
8 Feb, Tues
Tues, 8 Feb.
this was an interesting day. ... a day of 'conflict and confrontation' ... two of my most avoided scenarios.
the Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center (WSORC) is one of the places i was checking into volunteering with, but i stopped getting emails from them, i eventuallly signed up with BICA and am very happy to be here. the other day, i got a response to an old email from Lisa at WSORC ... they've been without a director and so have been closed. they said they could use me if i wanted to volunteer. i sent an email saying i was here on Utila with BICA, but would stop in to say 'hi'.
our boat is being fixed this week, so we had no scheduled activities, just our regular projects to work on. i wanted to meet Lisa, introduce myself, and see what they were doing; so Abi and i stopped at the WSORC office. Lisa was very happy to see us, said she had talked with Trish (our director) about BICA volunteers helping them out, coz they have none. Lisa was leaving in the morning and needed someone to take charge of their Whale Shark Encounter trip tomorrow. yeahhh, maybe we'll get to snorkel with a Whale Shark! we returned home, so excited; but it was short-lived. we found out a meeting had been scheduled and we would not be available to help them out. hummmmmmm..... i felt terrible to leave Lisa without help when we told her we would be there. a lot of discussion followed. we finally came to the agreement that the meeting would be moved up, so we would help them out; but in the future we should follow proper procedure. we did not mean to do anything wrong, we were just trying to help where we could.
at 7pm we went to the Whale Shark presentation at WSORC. great informative presentation .... what an awesome creature!
Whale Sharks 101:
they are not whales, they are not mammals, ....they are fish. they are in the same family as the Nurse Sharks, .... the ones that have no teeth and suck their food in. they do have 300 rows of tiny tiny teeth, but their throat is the size of your fist, (no chance they're going to eat you), even though their mouths open to 5ft wide. (which i'll admit might be a bit intimidating). they suck in their food with water, then expel the water out of their 5 gill slits on either side. very little is known about them, it was only recently when they were classified as a fish, when a harpooned one was dissected and found to have about 300 eggs and 15 babies ready to be born inside her. they are born alive, up to 2ft long, and the mother has no further responsibility for them. they live deep down in the ocean (2,300ft), migrate, traveling the seas, coming to the surface to feed on tiny fishes and plankton. they grow to 40ft long and 23ft around, and are thought to live to be 70-100yrs old, with sexual maturity around the age of 30. they are still hunted and killed in some Asian countries for their fins, which are a status symbol. they also use their liver for waterproofing. their meat is tasteless and is discarded. education is necessary to inform that they are worth more alive (for the tourist industry) than dead. but unfortunately, cultural traditions have no logic and die slowly. :(. they are generally very acceptable of humans 'invading their space', as long as there isn't splashing or loud noise. each and every Whale Shark has a unique 'finger print' in the design of spots on their left side just before their dorsal fin. the same technology that NASA uses to map constellations is being used to 'connect the dots' of the Whale Shark for identification purposes. there is a whole data base available through ECOCEAN that you can upload photos to ... maybe i'll be able to do this!
there is a great YouTube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO2k-l4yRz8&feature=related
i wish and hope that before i leave this could be me!
i originally became obsessed with the Whale Sharks while i was in Australia. they were just arriving in the area, i had one day scheduled, but none were sited. i've wanted to snorkel with one every since ... that's been 11 years ago! this could be my magic year!
Whale Sharks 101:
they are not whales, they are not mammals, ....they are fish. they are in the same family as the Nurse Sharks, .... the ones that have no teeth and suck their food in. they do have 300 rows of tiny tiny teeth, but their throat is the size of your fist, (no chance they're going to eat you), even though their mouths open to 5ft wide. (which i'll admit might be a bit intimidating). they suck in their food with water, then expel the water out of their 5 gill slits on either side. very little is known about them, it was only recently when they were classified as a fish, when a harpooned one was dissected and found to have about 300 eggs and 15 babies ready to be born inside her. they are born alive, up to 2ft long, and the mother has no further responsibility for them. they live deep down in the ocean (2,300ft), migrate, traveling the seas, coming to the surface to feed on tiny fishes and plankton. they grow to 40ft long and 23ft around, and are thought to live to be 70-100yrs old, with sexual maturity around the age of 30. they are still hunted and killed in some Asian countries for their fins, which are a status symbol. they also use their liver for waterproofing. their meat is tasteless and is discarded. education is necessary to inform that they are worth more alive (for the tourist industry) than dead. but unfortunately, cultural traditions have no logic and die slowly. :(. they are generally very acceptable of humans 'invading their space', as long as there isn't splashing or loud noise. each and every Whale Shark has a unique 'finger print' in the design of spots on their left side just before their dorsal fin. the same technology that NASA uses to map constellations is being used to 'connect the dots' of the Whale Shark for identification purposes. there is a whole data base available through ECOCEAN that you can upload photos to ... maybe i'll be able to do this!
there is a great YouTube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO2k-l4yRz8&feature=related
i wish and hope that before i leave this could be me!
i originally became obsessed with the Whale Sharks while i was in Australia. they were just arriving in the area, i had one day scheduled, but none were sited. i've wanted to snorkel with one every since ... that's been 11 years ago! this could be my magic year!
9 Feb, Wed
Wed, 9 Feb.
today i woke up excited about the possibility of seeing a Whale Shark! Abi, on the other hand, woke up with what i had on Sunday. she was going no-where today. in talking to the Dive Master on the boat, i learned that the 'flu' is going around the island. with half the island infected. i am actually happy to learn that it was the flu that i had; and not that it was something i ate. i didn't like feeling skeptical about everything i ate the rest of my time here. i did get a flu shot before i left Kzoo, so perhaps that prevented me from being sicker than i was. yeahhh for American drugs ! :) .
we had our morning meeting ..... and the result of yesterday's misunderstanding: all volunteers will now be required to be IN the 'office' from 9am to 12noon working on our projects; and we need to work through the proper channels for any other activities. these 'office hours' are new. during our initial orientation we were told that we were responsible for getting our projects completed.
Since Abi couldn't make it, Nicole was released to go with me to WSORC. i'll spare you the details by saying it was really an unorganized mess and i was 'in charge' of it. but we got everyone paid up, release forms signed, equipment fitted, ice water, glasses, and people on the boat by 12:55. the Captain leaves at 1pm sharp. it was a nice big boat and there were 15 of us. we headed out to the deep blue towards the island of Roatan. after about an hour, the Dive Master started yelling, 'put on your equipment, get in the water, Whale Shark' ! OMG, everyone was so excited! only 8 people are allowed in the water at one same time with the Whale Shark. i was in the first group, but the last one in the water. by the time i got in, it was gone :(. i saw a few real sharks, the kind with teeth, and some jellyfish, but no Whale Shark. we were in the water a total of about 8min and then we were back in the boat, .... searching again.
searching, this is the amazing part. all that water, and we're trying to find a Whale Shark. they are big, but so are the seas, and they only surface to feed. i don't know how he does it, but Captain Willy is one of the best in finding them. this is the scenario that he is looking for: .... a lot of birds flying over what they call "boils" because it looks like the water is boiling. the fish are jumping out of the water because a Whale Shark is coming up from the depths with it's mouth open to feed. and the birds are there to pick off the fish. it looks like this.
and the fish that are jumping are not the ones the Whale Shark eats, they are too big, but they feed on the smaller fish and plankton, so that's why they are there, and just trying to get out of the way.
Utila is the only place that the Whale Shark 'hunts' this way. usually it cruises along the surface with it's mouth open through one of these 'boils'. but here, the 'boils' are smaller in diameter, so it makes more sense for the Whale Shark to come up from the bottom to get them. ...pretty smart, aren't they?
the Whale Shark is the largest fish in the sea ... and it eats the smallest fish in the sea!
another hour later, and more than half the way to Roatan, (i could actually see homes on the island), the excitement started again. the second group got in the water ... almost on top of the Whale Shark. it was right there. they ALL got to see it. i was in the boat and this was all i saw, and took these 2 photos ... can you see it's fin ... i know, .... barely ... and it doesn't look very impressive for a fish that was 15ft long.
and the dorsal fin and tail fin in this one. i know, you have to look close, and use your imagination. :(
i was disappointed; but am hopeful that i'll have another chance before i leave. a 2hr ride back, cleaned up, and slowly walked home. no dinner out for me tonight. that was a long day.
and the fish that are jumping are not the ones the Whale Shark eats, they are too big, but they feed on the smaller fish and plankton, so that's why they are there, and just trying to get out of the way.
Utila is the only place that the Whale Shark 'hunts' this way. usually it cruises along the surface with it's mouth open through one of these 'boils'. but here, the 'boils' are smaller in diameter, so it makes more sense for the Whale Shark to come up from the bottom to get them. ...pretty smart, aren't they?
the Whale Shark is the largest fish in the sea ... and it eats the smallest fish in the sea!
another hour later, and more than half the way to Roatan, (i could actually see homes on the island), the excitement started again. the second group got in the water ... almost on top of the Whale Shark. it was right there. they ALL got to see it. i was in the boat and this was all i saw, and took these 2 photos ... can you see it's fin ... i know, .... barely ... and it doesn't look very impressive for a fish that was 15ft long.
and the dorsal fin and tail fin in this one. i know, you have to look close, and use your imagination. :(
i was disappointed; but am hopeful that i'll have another chance before i leave. a 2hr ride back, cleaned up, and slowly walked home. no dinner out for me tonight. that was a long day.
Wednesday, February 9
7 Feb, Mon
Mon, 7 Feb.
at 7:30am we had to be at Capt Morgan's dock ... seriously, that's the name of it. Nicole, Chris and i met Pamela, Chel, and Jose to go out in the boat to check out the mangroves and lagoons to see if anyone has been cutting down the mangroves or building where they shouldn't be. it was a sad, frustrating morning .... and HOT and sweaty walking through the mangroves :) unfortunately, we found several areas where the mangroves were being cut down for development. the mangroves are VERY important to sustain life in the sea. they clens and filter the water, stabilize the soil, and provide homes for hundreds of species of baby fishes, as well as homes for iguanas and birds, including the migratory ones from Michigan !
this one is 'raping' the mangroves from the land side where there are already existing houses. you can see the house at the top of the photo. and where the mangroves have recently been cut, .... along with the trash that is being thrown there ... on what they will soon take over as their OWN property ..... i'm sure they will clean it up once they finished their illegal activities .... NOT !
and clear evidence of water or ? being piped directly into the mangroves.....
this lagoon has very recently had the mangroves all cut down and has been dredged to make a new marina. this project had been presented to the authorities, and was NOT given permission to proceed. it was discovered last week when they flew over the mangroves in an airplane.
.... how they have been able to get this far without anyone of authority knowing about it, is beyond me. it is located very close to the Chepes Beach where we went last week ... i mean just around the corner! they needed heavy-duty equipment to do this job! didn't anyone see or hear anything unusual?
and this area was also developed by cutting the mangroves and dredging, and is now home to a dive shop and resort. it also did not have permission to develop, ... is in the process of being sued, .... but is fully operational .... WITH a permit to operate! now go figure that one out!
this is another new project that is being developed without permission. after they raped the mangroves and destroyed any vegetations' ability to hold the soil, they installed BOARDS to hold the soil back ....
another very recent 'project' obviously underway. mangroves have been cut and a small stream has been dug out. we walked this 'stream' for about 35min, and never did come to the end of it .....
can you imagine what the DEQ, DEA, and EPA would have to say about this? and BICA has no authority to do anything about it. they can only bring it to the attention of the 'municipality'.
there was, however, a bit of beauty to our day. they call this the Tourist Tree because it's bark is red and it peels. haha
this beach is on the South Side of the island and has many nice homes on it for rent. the beach and snorkeling is right out front. it's beautiful !
the rest of the day i worked on my other projects. in the evening we went to the Tranquila Bar because it was their 7th anniversary; and they were serving 15Lemperia drinks .... that's less than 1USD. i think the entire island was there. we left at midnight, longer than i had intended to stay ... but the party was still rolling .... until 4am, so i hear.
i think this little one was spying on everyone !
and clear evidence of water or ? being piped directly into the mangroves.....
this lagoon has very recently had the mangroves all cut down and has been dredged to make a new marina. this project had been presented to the authorities, and was NOT given permission to proceed. it was discovered last week when they flew over the mangroves in an airplane.
.... how they have been able to get this far without anyone of authority knowing about it, is beyond me. it is located very close to the Chepes Beach where we went last week ... i mean just around the corner! they needed heavy-duty equipment to do this job! didn't anyone see or hear anything unusual?
and this area was also developed by cutting the mangroves and dredging, and is now home to a dive shop and resort. it also did not have permission to develop, ... is in the process of being sued, .... but is fully operational .... WITH a permit to operate! now go figure that one out!
this is another new project that is being developed without permission. after they raped the mangroves and destroyed any vegetations' ability to hold the soil, they installed BOARDS to hold the soil back ....
another very recent 'project' obviously underway. mangroves have been cut and a small stream has been dug out. we walked this 'stream' for about 35min, and never did come to the end of it .....
can you imagine what the DEQ, DEA, and EPA would have to say about this? and BICA has no authority to do anything about it. they can only bring it to the attention of the 'municipality'.
there was, however, a bit of beauty to our day. they call this the Tourist Tree because it's bark is red and it peels. haha
this beach is on the South Side of the island and has many nice homes on it for rent. the beach and snorkeling is right out front. it's beautiful !
the rest of the day i worked on my other projects. in the evening we went to the Tranquila Bar because it was their 7th anniversary; and they were serving 15Lemperia drinks .... that's less than 1USD. i think the entire island was there. we left at midnight, longer than i had intended to stay ... but the party was still rolling .... until 4am, so i hear.
i think this little one was spying on everyone !
Tuesday, February 8
6 Feb, Sun
Sun, 6 Feb.
ok, i don't know what i ate yesterday that didn't agree with me, ...maybe that fish i thought tasted so good. .... certainly it wasn't the ice cream! unfortunately, i woke up with a rumbling stomach requiring several trips to the bathroom :( after a few hours, i realized that it was going to be more than just a few trips to the bathroom. i was feverish and felt like a 'wet noodle'. i couldn't even sit up in bed, and was chilled .... in 90degree weather! i forced myself to eat a slice of bread so i could take some Motrin. i spent the day in bed and got up around 3pm and could actually walk outside. not feeling great, but much improved! the problem with a place like this is that there just isn't anything that you can eat that isn't greasy, fried, or spicy. i was hungry around 6pm and found some leftover chicken and rice in the frig that i heated up. i think i'm ok now and looked forward to going back to bed!
since this is a short blog, i'll add this: some of you have asked about using the "Comments" section ... which would be wonderful ... i'd love to hear your comments! i've worked on this the other night with Abi. and i think this is how it goes:
--a 'comment box' is offered only if you select a particular date.
--if you are looking at all the days one after another, there is no 'comment box'.
--but at the end of each day's posting, it says "Posted by Donna at ..pm 0 Comments".
--if you click on "0 Comments" or "2 Comments" ... .
--then it will bring up a comment box to use.
for the "Select profile..." drop down box .... .
if you have a Google Acct ... you can use the Google Acct option .
if not, use Anonymous ... but then, please include your name in the text section of the message or i won't know who it's from ... :) .
then, i think it will tell you something in Spanish? about 'probation' ... which means i'll get an email that a 'comment' has been posted, and then i say ok to publish.... .
at least that's the way i think it will work now ....
no photos today, so i'll leave you with just this one:
Sunday, February 6
5 Feb, Sat
Sat, 5 Feb.
we all slept in today ... i think it was after 9am when i finally got up .... 5 hours of sleep ought to be enough to hold me until i can get a nap :)
about noon it was so hot, we slowly walked towards the beach at the other end of town. we had to stop half way to get something to eat at the Bandu. i had a great tuna sandwich. we all needed food! afterwards we walked the rest of the way to the 'pay' beach, with toilets and fresh water showers!
as we walked out to the beach we met Chico, the beautiful red Macaw. SHE was quite friendly and the owner came over and put her on our shoulders for some pictures.
he showed me where to snorkel and i headed out. it was kind of depressing. there was a LOT of dead coral ... but some was beginning to regrow, like this one:
and quite a few fish, but overall, it was sad. i did get a few good photos ...
there was a HUGE school of Blue Tangs that went swimming by out in the deep.
But the water out there was really chilly, so i hung out in the shallows where it was like bath water and saw some smaller fishes.
this Trunkfish was a very cooperative subject.
Butterfly fishes:
you can see a mass of purple that is on the rock in the background. i can only speculate that this fish was defending his territory or eggs. he kept darting out at me, and then retreating back to the wall. also chasing other fishes away. will have to check out my theory with our authorities here.
the rest of the group laid in the sand and took naps ... but i was not going to be a snack for the Sand Flies ... so i just hung out in the water and walked around until we were ready to leave. we
walked back into town around 5:30 and had ice cream :)
back home, changed clothes and walked down to my favorite place, Hotpot; with Chris and Nicole. we saw this guy on the steps. my apologies to those of you who don't like spiders :(
had another dinner of fresh shrimps. delicious and not too much, just right. it felt really good to get into bed early! Never did get my nap.
as we walked out to the beach we met Chico, the beautiful red Macaw. SHE was quite friendly and the owner came over and put her on our shoulders for some pictures.
he showed me where to snorkel and i headed out. it was kind of depressing. there was a LOT of dead coral ... but some was beginning to regrow, like this one:
and quite a few fish, but overall, it was sad. i did get a few good photos ...
there was a HUGE school of Blue Tangs that went swimming by out in the deep.
But the water out there was really chilly, so i hung out in the shallows where it was like bath water and saw some smaller fishes.
this Trunkfish was a very cooperative subject.
Butterfly fishes:
you can see a mass of purple that is on the rock in the background. i can only speculate that this fish was defending his territory or eggs. he kept darting out at me, and then retreating back to the wall. also chasing other fishes away. will have to check out my theory with our authorities here.
the rest of the group laid in the sand and took naps ... but i was not going to be a snack for the Sand Flies ... so i just hung out in the water and walked around until we were ready to leave. we
walked back into town around 5:30 and had ice cream :)
back home, changed clothes and walked down to my favorite place, Hotpot; with Chris and Nicole. we saw this guy on the steps. my apologies to those of you who don't like spiders :(
had another dinner of fresh shrimps. delicious and not too much, just right. it felt really good to get into bed early! Never did get my nap.
4 Feb, Fri
Fri, 4 Feb.
this morning was kind of confusing as to what we were supposed to be doing when. finally around noon it appeared that whatever we were going to do, wasn't going to happen, so Chris, Nicole and i grabbed our snorkel gear and headed for the beach. Abi was at an elementary school out on one of the Keyes. we left her a note to come join us when she got back. it was a very hot sunny walk. i know i'm not getting any sympathy from any of you :)
so, we stopped at Driftwood for something to eat, and to get out of the heat! we sat over the water with a nice breeze blowing ... felt good! i had chicken quesadillas that were very good.
then we headed past Chepes Beach to a place called Coral View to snorkel. the reef is close to the shore at this point, and there is a 2-story dock that you can snorkel from if you either pay US$3 or buy a drink .... the drink is cheaper :)
about the time we got into the water, Abi showed up. Chris and Nicole stayed in the shallows and Abi and i headed out over the reef to the edge where it drops off into oblivion. i love it right on the edge there. it is exciting, and you see lots of fish and coral with nothing but dark blue as far as you can see in the distance.
i had my camera and took lots photos.
Blue Tang in the coral
porcupine fish or puffer fish ... this is his normal size ... blows up to 'ball' shape when threatened
i love the 'vase' corals
i think this is a brain coral, but in the most unusual colors of green and pink:
Spider Crab (i think)
Elkhorn Coral:
another 'vase' coral:
coral with the deep blue in the back ground:
Parrot Fish
Abi and i finally decided to go in. we all stayed around and had a 'required' drink. then headed home to get cleaned up ... it's our first Friday night here!
Abi and i headed back towards the Driftwood because we heard they had a band. i was skeptical as to the band and how long i would 'last' with the young kids. the band, 'older guys' played good ole music. we had met Mario, a musician from Montreal, while snorkeling; and he arrived at the Driftwood ... and ended up playing some great blues ! i LOVED it, and before i knew it, they were closing the bar! Abi, Mario, and i left there and started walking to the next bar ... the Jade SeaHorse. the bar is a 'tree-house' literally built into the trees! i'll have to get photos during the day of this restaurant, it is unexplainable! in short, it's a 'mosaic-makers dream'. After closing the Jade SeaHorse we stopped back at our room and i was shocked to see that it was 2am. ....on to the next bar, The Bar in the Bush, which is only about 100yds from our room. Last Wed night they kept us up all night with their boom boom boom 'music'. it was no different tonight, so we decided we might as well join them since we wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. i got to bed at 4am. there !! ... now i don't have to do that again while i'm here!
porcupine fish or puffer fish ... this is his normal size ... blows up to 'ball' shape when threatened
i love the 'vase' corals
i think this is a brain coral, but in the most unusual colors of green and pink:
Spider Crab (i think)
Elkhorn Coral:
another 'vase' coral:
coral with the deep blue in the back ground:
Parrot Fish
Abi and i finally decided to go in. we all stayed around and had a 'required' drink. then headed home to get cleaned up ... it's our first Friday night here!
Abi and i headed back towards the Driftwood because we heard they had a band. i was skeptical as to the band and how long i would 'last' with the young kids. the band, 'older guys' played good ole music. we had met Mario, a musician from Montreal, while snorkeling; and he arrived at the Driftwood ... and ended up playing some great blues ! i LOVED it, and before i knew it, they were closing the bar! Abi, Mario, and i left there and started walking to the next bar ... the Jade SeaHorse. the bar is a 'tree-house' literally built into the trees! i'll have to get photos during the day of this restaurant, it is unexplainable! in short, it's a 'mosaic-makers dream'. After closing the Jade SeaHorse we stopped back at our room and i was shocked to see that it was 2am. ....on to the next bar, The Bar in the Bush, which is only about 100yds from our room. Last Wed night they kept us up all night with their boom boom boom 'music'. it was no different tonight, so we decided we might as well join them since we wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. i got to bed at 4am. there !! ... now i don't have to do that again while i'm here!
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